Conor McGregor tapped the mat and everything changed. Gone was the 20-story banner on the MGM Grand he wanted, the $1bn in revenues he was going to deliver the UFC and the fictitious fight of the century that he planned against himself. In the days before UFC 196 McGregor had portrayed himself as a man bigger than the organization that had made him. And then he lost his newfound power in Diaz’s suffocating hold.

And yet in defeat McGregor can still win. He did not slither from failure after a defeat few saw coming. Gone was the cocksure banter and the searing digs. The man who lost to Diaz was graceful, humble and even optimistic. He might win badly but on Saturday he lost well.

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“It’s a tough pill to swallow but we can either run from our adversity or run to our adversity, take it head on and conquer it,” he said.

He had made a grave mistake in taking a fight far above the 145lbs where he remains a champion. He must have realized this miscalculation the moment Diaz’s fists began pounding against his skull in the second round, knocking him backward, shock filling his face. But vanity had gotten the best of McGregor. When Rafael Dos Anjos had pulled out of this fight two weeks ago, McGregor could have insisted upon a safer fighter in his weight class. Yet he wanted something bigger than another 145lbs fighter, he wanted something grander, something more befitting of the biggest name in the sport. He took on a much bigger, well-trained man and paid heavily for his hubris.

Taking on Diaz and losing did nothing for McGregor. It did nothing for the UFC that undoubtedly hoped its top star would be reaching his mainstream zenith as July’s UFC 200 approached. His attempt to leap 25lbs didn’t sell more tickets and it halted the Irishman’s rocketing ascent to the top of his sport, stifling – for a moment – those premature comparisons to a young Muhammad Ali. He took a great leap he never needed and crashed with a thud.

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But the McGregor who jumped and lost, the one who tapped out after vowing to die before ever surrendering was never more likeable than he was late on Saturday night. He had no funny line, no witty retort. He did not speak of being a lion devouring a gazelle but talked instead about accepting defeat and building himself back. He spoke of Diaz as a great fighter and acknowledged that his opponent had been smarter in his attack. He was gracious and respectful even as Diaz stood on the same dais using the word “motherfucker” as if it were the only adjective in his arsenal.

“He kept his composure,” McGregor said of Diaz. “He went into almost auto-pilot mode with the shots, his face was bruised up and I went into panic mode. It was a shift of energy and he capitalized on it.”

In those moments after his loss he appeared to be analyzing his disaster, realizing that in his zeal to be more outrageous and outlandish, he had lost what originally made him great. He had gone into this fight as too much of a superstar, arriving late to UFC functions, speaking of himself as the organization’s most powerful money-maker. He pranced into the arena as more showman than warrior. He wasted energy with his whirling spin kick from the Conan O’Brien show. He came far closer to hitting Conan with it than he did Diaz, and in the octagon he looked like the crazy guy in a sidewalk fight trying to scare a bigger man with a wacky karate move. And late on Saturday he seemed to realize how wrong he had been.

He shook his head at the empty leg kicks. He wondered if perhaps he had taken on too much in choosing Diaz. “I have no excuses,” he said. “It is what it is. I took a chance, it didn’t pay off, I will be back.”

Now we find out about Conor McGregor. All around UFC people had been wondering about what would happen when he lost. Who is he really when someone shuts his mouth? Few expected that someone would be Diaz, who sneered into victory with the same disdainful glare he wore though the week. Already McGregor has admitted that is going back to fight at 145lbs. With every air kick he lost leverage on Saturday. He remains the organization’s top attraction, and his fight back will make for a compelling story.

But he is no longer invincible. He got carried away with being ‘Mystic Mac’, the man who could take on any challenge and make it work, instead of being a great fighter at 145 and 155lbs. The McGregor on Saturday had been stripped back to the man who fell in love with fighting before money. What will become of him now?